Call for proposals

• 12 November 2024 -  Call opens 
• 7 January 2025 - Call closes
• 3 February 2025 - Acceptance notification
• 28 February 2025 - Programme outline due 
• 10 March 2025 - Registrations open
• 30 May 2025 -  Final and detailed schedule due (incl. name of presenters)
• 8 September 2025  - Presentation at [BC]²

The [BC]² 2025 program offers a range of tutorials and workshops on topics relevant to bioinformatics, giving participants opportunities to learn, discuss, and engage with the latest research and technical advancements in the field. Both tutorials and workshops can be submitted as either half-day (9:00 - 12:15) or full-day sessions (9:00 - 16:15). Tutorials provide structured lectures or hands-on training, while workshops offer an informal setting to explore technical issues, exchange research ideas, and share practical experiences on focused or emerging topics. All tutorials and workshops will take place on Monday 8 September 2025, at the Biozentrum (University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 41, 4056 Basel).

General schedule 

To submit a workshop or tutorial for [BC]² 2025, follow these steps:

1. Create an Account:
   

   • SIB Employees: Sign in to the [BC]² platform using your SIB LDAP credentials.
   • SIB Members or Swiss University Affiliates: Use your university account to log in. If your university has integrated SWITCH edu-ID, use your SWITCH edu-ID credentials; otherwise, use your standard university account. For security, close your browser window after your session.
   • Other Participants: If you are neither at SIB nor affiliated with a Swiss university, create a new account to access the [BC]² platform.
     
     

Create an account

2. Complete your profile
After creating an account, update your profile with the required information before submitting your proposal.


3. Submit your workshop 

• 1. Access "My workshops": Cclick your user icon in the top-right corner and select "My Workshops."

• 2. Click on " Submit your workshop": fill in all required fields. You can either "Save draft" to edit later or "Submit" your proposal. Note: Once submitted, proposals cannot be edited.

• 3. Review Submission: to view your saved or submitted proposals, go to "My Workshops" in your user menu for an overview of all submissions.

The evaluation committee will consider the following criteria in assessing proposals: 

• Relevance to [BC]² conference attendees
• Topic (novelty and/or timeliness)
• Format and interactivity potential
• Expertise of the organizers/presenters/instructors*
• Proposed organization
  
  

* Please note that attendees often consider in-person interactions with presenters as an important factor when choosing a particular session. It is consequently expected that the presenters listed on the submitted proposal will present in person.

Evaluation Committee

• Diana Marek, Training Manager, SIB Training Group | SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Switzerland
• Charlyne Bürki, PHD Student at the Computational Evolution lab, ETH D-BSSE | EPFL SV alumni, ETH Zurich
• Valentyn Bezshapkin, PhD Student in Sunagawa Lab | ETH Zürich
  
  

The [BC]² tutorial and workshop session is coordinated by the SIB Training Group. For more information please contact bc2@sib.swiss.

On-site participation and presentation

• All tutorials and workshops will take place onsite in Basel. To foster exchanges and interactivity during the sessions, participants, organizers and presenters must be present in-person
• In limited cases, the evaluation committee can approve the virtual participation of a tutorial/workshop presenter if unable to travel or attend onsite. Please indicate the reason for virtual attendance when submitting
  
  

[BC]² Registration fees  -  travel and accommodation costs

• Each tutorial/workshop will receive up to two free conference registrations for organizers or speakers.
• [BC]² will not cover travel and accommodation costs from tutorial/workshop organizers or presenters (read below).
  
  

[BC]² will be responsible for: 

• Providing a meeting venue with necessary technical equipment and catering services during coffee breaks
• Providing staff to help with the on-site/online organization
• Announcing the detailed schedule of the tutorial/workshop on the conference website
• Advertising on [BC]² social media (based on material/info received from organizers). FYI, a social media banner template will be provided to organizers to ensure consistency with the visual identity of the conference
• Update organizers, on a monthly basis, about the number or registered participants
• [BC]² and SIB Training Group reserve the right to cancel a scheduled tutorial/workshop if registration one month before the conference is less than 10 participants
  
  

Tutorial / workshop organizers will be responsible for:

• Finding financial support for the organization of the tutorial/workshop. Tutorial/workshop organizers are highly encouraged to seek independent funding for travel and accommodation of their speakers / presenters.
• Advertising the tutorial/workshop and distributing its call for papers/participation (if applicable). This includes promoting their event to relevant newsgroups and mailing lists, and especially to potential audiences from outside the core [BC]² conference community.
• Finalising the programme/detailed schedule (incl. name of speakers) and providing material by the specific conference deadlines (see key dates)
• Compiling and distributing material to the participants (if applicable). Note that you will be able to upload material as pdf on the conference website upon request and that no photocopying of handouts will be managed by the conference.
•  Leading the event at [BC]².

Note that organizers are responsible for ensuring that the tutorial and workshop materials are legally used, and that appropriate copyright permissions have been arranged. Lecturers will guarantee that tutorial and workshop materials are as much as possible open and FAIR. They agree that their material may be made available in any form by the conference to [BC]² conference participants.